Poll: Israel as Unpopular as Terror States Iran, North Korea

Among the findings of a new international survey, commissioned by the BBC and performed by an outfit called Globescan, is that the four least popular countries in the world, or at least in the 22 countries surveyed, are Pakistan, Iran, North Korea – and Israel.

Polling residents of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Australia, Indonesia, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, and Nigeria, Globescan found that only 21 percent of respondents had a positive impression of Israel, and that the only one of the Western countries surveyed whose residents have an overall positive view of Israel is the U.S.

Looking at the study in its entirety, one discovers that while 50 percent of Americans took a positive view of Israel and 35 percent were negative, the breakdown in Canada was a very different 25-59. Of Russia, France, Britain, Germany, and Spain, guess which had the most positive view of Israel? Believe it or not, Russia – land of the shtetls and pogroms, of Sakharov and Sharansky. While French attitudes toward Israel split 20-65, British 16-68, Germans 16-69, and Spaniards 12-74, the Russians broke almost even, 25-26. Indeed, Nigerians (54-29) and Kenyans (45-31) were far friendlier to Israel than any of the Western European countries. Unsurprisingly, the Muslim countries surveyed were not terribly pro-Israel: the figures for Egypt were 7-85, for Pakistan 9-50, for Indonesia 8-61. But the country that was most hostile of all was Japan, where only 3 percent had an affirmative view of Israel.

The report, of course, only confirms what many of us already know: that with the exception of the U.S., the countries of the West – in which diaspora Jews have lived for centuries and which, in the wake of the Holocaust, fell all over themselves apologizing for, and trying to atone for, their roles in the destruction of the Jews – are today no friends of the Jewish state. Mountains of anecdotal evidence, moreover, make it clear that it is impossible to separate this antagonism from pure and simple anti-Semitism.

American Jews who still believe that they are living in a world – or, at least, in a Western world – in which anti-Semitism is, by and large, a thing of the past need to open their eyes. They should be aware of what is going on in the minds of many of the people they encounter when they travel to places like Paris or London. They should recognize that the relative lack of Jew-hatred that they experience in the U.S. is an outright aberration – an aberration, moreover, that, as rhetoric emanating from the Occupy Wall Street movement has suggested, may not persist for much longer.

Similarly, Western European gentiles who think that they inhabit the most civilized, tolerant, and peaceable corner of the world need to think again. For the ancient prejudice that led Europe down the road to the Holocaust has come crawling back out of its dark hole.

Clearly, the main reason for the widespread enmity toward Israel in Western Europe is that left-leaning individuals in positions of influence – from politicians and journalists to schoolteachers and professors – have been engaged for quite a long time in a relentless campaign of disinformation and demonization directed against Israel and, frankly, Jews generally. In turn, a major (if not the only) reason for that effort is a misbegotten desire to please, and appease, European Muslims.

“I am so tired,” complained Søren Espersen of the Danish Folkeparti last Friday on his Jyllands-Posten blog, “of all the lies about Israel.” He elaborated:

I am often invited to high schools, where both teachers and students get such a very special masochistic thrill out of seeing and meeting someone like me – the very epitome of Danish political evil ….! It is, of course, [my] foreign policy they most want to be outraged by, but the second most important topic at Danish schools is actually the Middle East. The relationship between Israelis and Arabs, between Jews and Muslims.

And time after time it has struck me that even in a situation where the interest in the Middle East conflict is burning hot, for the most part neither the teachers nor the students are aware of the historical background.

Bruce Bawer is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center and the author of “While Europe Slept” and “Surrender.” His book "The Victims' Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind" is just out from Broadside / Harper Collins.

Chezwick

I was watching an old interview with Roger waters of Pink Floyd….and he was discussing his disdain for theocracies like Iran. I was thinking "well, here's a truly enlightened musician"…when he suddenly blurted out "…and Israel is no different."

I was stunned. Israel has a strong religious component to its national fabric and exempts religious students from military service, but it is otherwise a secular nation of secular laws. I guess Waters just felt the compulsion to throw it under the bus to prove to his audience that he is 'even-handed.'

Another clueless liberal drinking the cool-aid of relativism.

SCREW SOCIALISM

roger waters hatred is due to his being british.

The british can never forgive Israel for not being massacred by five islamofascist armies in 1948, a mere 3 years after the end of the WW2 and the Holocaust.

So britain gets its comeuppance by being overrun by Muslims who also express their Multi-Cult values by bombing London transport on 7/7/05.

aspacia

40 British officers helped the Arab armies in 48. Why? Because the Stern Gang hung two British soldiers. Actually, British antisemitism is ancient, with one king expelling all Jews in 1100.

Choi

The British Empire helped the Arabs in 1948 in the following ways:
1)The (Trans)Jordanian Arab Legion of King Abdullah(the current King Abdullah's Great Grandfather who was made a King by the British) was BRITISH LED(Gen John Bagot Glubb (Pasha), BRITISH EQUIPPED,BRITISH FINANCED,
2)Enforced their "Mandatory Laws" UNEQUALLY,in favor of the Arabs/Muslims
3) REFUSED "LEGAL" ENTRY to Mandate Palestine of Jewish Holocaust Survivors until the very LAST moment of the Mandate.
4)ALLOWED Arabs to ARM,while doing everything they could to DISARM the Jews,including RAIDS on Jewish Communities to confiscate weapons for Jewish Defense.
5)Relinquished STRATEGIC locations that were scheduled to be given to the Jews ,EARLY, and given to the Arab/Muslims including MOST "Taggart Forts".
6) British Military JEW-HATERS BLEW UP an Explosives Filled Military Truck on Ben-Yehuda St. in Downtown Jerusalem causing DEAD & WOUNDED JEWS
7) RAF Spitfires with British Pilots ,flying for Egypt, fighting the NEW Israel Air Force in the closing stages of Israel's" War of Independence".

And ,for the record,the Irgun Freedom Fighters hung the British Sergeants when the British HUNG captured Irgun members after REFUSING to EXCHANGE prisoners .

aspacia

True. Choi, I know this, me mum is British and an arrogant, autocratic, antiSemitic. Do I love her, yes, financially she has been good to me, but she never has liked me because I am an American. This was your choice stupid woman.

SCREW SOCIALISM

The Stern Gang hung two British soldiers because the British hung two Stern Gang members.

The Stern Gang warned the British of consequences. The British were typically too arrogant to take anyone opposing them seriously and 4 people died needlessly.

After the release of the bomber of Pan Am 103, I have ZERO respect for scotland or the bbc ministry of information.

SCREW SOCIALISM

And Amercians killed British soldiers during the American Revolutionary War.

Pat Condell is indeed great …along with Nigel Farage and the UK Independent Party …there is just a teensie smidgen of hope for Britain. Otherwise, they are their own worst enemies.

Asher

Yes, and isn't it rediculous that these above mentioned countries do not stand with the only rational democracy, Israel, in the Middle East who try to take care of their people, when will people wake up and quit supporting terrorists states like Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas?

Nakba1948

You fools invoke the term "anti-Semitism" with such abandon that you've diluted the meaning of the term, much to the peril of the Jewish people. The world resents Israel because of Israel's perennially despicable, criminal behavior. Nothing more, nothing less. Israel has its proxies infiltrate Western governments to shift their foreign policies so that they benefit the Zionist Apartheid State, even to the detriment of the host government. The world sees the daily injustices visited upon the Palestinian people and understands that the Zionists have no right to be in the Middle East to begin with. Israel flouts international law and regularly attacks its neighbors in wars of aggression. Israel maintains an illegal nuclear stockpile. Israel represents a primary grievance in the Muslim psyche, thereby fueling extremism towards the West, which is viewed as complicit in Zionist crimes. These are among the myriad reasons why the world despises Israel, and rightly so. Inshallah, the Zionist entity will cease to exist and Palestine will reclaim its stolen soil sooner or later; mark my words, Jews, Muslims and Christian will all be better off for it.

Gamaliel

The world despises Israel because the Arabs tell lies about Israel. They charge Israel of their own crimes against humanity.

aspacia

Yes, they do lie about Israel and themselves.

SCREW SOCIALISM

Happy Nakba EternalNakba1948!

Do you want some stinky french cheese with your WHINE?

teq

Happy Nakba to you too!
How do you celebrate Nakba? We usually have a backyard BBQ with camel burgers and goat wieners. In the evening we have fireworks and lots of ululating.
One of my favorite holidays.

SCREW SOCIALISM

We play "Pin the Tail on the Mohammed".

Snorbak

Nakba1948,
You Islamic fools invoke the term "Nakba" with such reckless abandon that YOU have diluted the meaning of the term to the perils of, your own peoples.
By the way, hows the liberation of "Palestine" going lately?
The Islamic world is tearing itself apart while Israel prospers, yep….Islam is certainly the way forward. (Sarcasm intended)

SCREW SOCIALISM

Nakba is GOOD for Infidels, bad for islamofascists.

Sage on the Stage

Hey, Schicklgruber…when was the last time "the Zionists" attacked, unprovoked, their neighbors "in wars of aggression?" Kill the Jews…Kill the Jews…Kill the Jews…what do facts matter?; is all we ever hear from you.

aspacia

Typical, stupid Muslim conspiracy theorist. Your brethren started the violence, and Israel ended it. You lost, you were the attackers, Get Over It and tell your brethren to quit discriminating against you. After WWII Germans were expelled by many countries – they are not refugees. 650,000 Jews were expelled from Arab land, and they are not refugees. It is your brethren you are keeping you as outcast cannon fodder.

Choi

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!

Snorbak

Well put dude

Choi

STOP TRYING TO DESTROY ISRAEL.!!!!!!!
You have no more "right" to the LAND of ISRAEL than do the Eskimos.
YOU INSIST on nothing less than the DESTRUCTION of a NATION and a PEOPLE and as a result you've created YOUR OWN" NAKBA".
And WHY is that?
Because YOU WILL NOT ACCEPT A NON-MUSLIM SOVERIEGNTY in its own Ancient Homeland.
So,CONTINUE to EEEETE THE SHYYTTT,which your "brothers",NOT the Jews, are FEEDING YOU.
GO BACK TO ARABIA,YOUR HOMELAND!!!!!!!!

Looking4Sanity

Sort of like how idiots like yourself throw the words "Zionism" and "Zionist" around like they were epithets? Seriously…are ALL rag-heads hypocrites, or does it just seem that way?

Looking4Sanity

Your stupidity is the REAL Nakba!

KarshiKhanabad

Notice how Snackbah1948 like a typical Pali terrorist always tosses a bomb, then hides? He never replies to his critics. Never a followup response. Just sullen silence.

Long live Israel!

intrcptr2

"…primary greivance in the Muslim psyche,"

I do believe you've managed to speak truth here. But what does that have to do Israel, since Mohammad founded his cult when there was no Israel in the Levant? You are correct here, oddly. But that simply proves that you realize that everything else you've ever thought or said about Jews is a monstrous lie.

Of course, neither Israel nor the Jews had anything to do with the extremism pointed west that led Muslims to Tours in 750, or Vienna in 1685, now did it?

Ghostwriter

Once more,Nakba1948,you prove to one and all that you and Schlomotion are the biggest purveyors of anti-Jewish swill on this website. What you don't care to mention in your little screed is that when Israel is destroyed,only the Muslims will still be there. The Christians and Jews will all be dead. But,that's what you and people like you want. Dead Christians and Jews. Why don't you go back to the hole from which you crawled out from? Himmler would love someone like you.

HoR_Emperor

An anti-Semite complaining about being called an anti-Semite. Pathetic and disgusting.

Bob T

Israel regularly attacks its neighbours in wars of aggression?! Who attacked who in 1948 and 1973?! It was Israel's contiguous Arab neighbours who attacked Israel. In 1967, Israel struck first, since Egypt mobilized its forces in the Sinai, called for the complete destruction of Israel, and then closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping; which in itself is an act of war. If the "Palestinian" people would ever simply desist from trying to destroy Israel and learn to live in peace with Israel, the two peoples could co-exist side by side. However, as your posting indicates, the Palestinians don't want peace, they want victory — which is the total destruction of Israel — and that is why they will never have a state of their own, since Israel only grows stronger with each passing decade. Israel is no more an apartheid state than Canada or the U.S. If you want to see discrimination and/or apartheid, go live in an Arab country like Saudi Arabia where the only religion that is tolerated is Islam, and all other religions have been outlawed!

waterwillows

Can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would trust anything from the bbc. And most certainly not a poll that is sure to be lefty favored.

The bbc needs to stop enforcing the UK to finance their station. If the people want it, then they will pay for it.
Otherwise, why the strong arm to force them to support? What else do they 'force'?

SCREW SOCIALISM

Let's not forget that it was the UK and its scottish territory which released the convicted bomber of Pan Am 103 – on "compassionate" grounds.

The British have always been backstabbers.

Tommo2

Right on Screw perhaps the best example of this in modern times is the way the British double dealing politicians handed Rhodesia over to a black despot who is still in power. Remember there was NO apartheid in Rhodesia but this didn't save them from Britain's overriding agenda of ethnic cleansing of white people from southern Africa.

BS77

When that pile of garbage was released, I realized England, and Scotland were finished. England has gone on the wane….it is a dreadful Orwellian socialized mess….staggering taxes and inexplicable permissive immigration for large numbers of hostile ingrates who are now living on the dole. England's great Commonwealth is no more. England is run by clueless bureaucrats and hacks…..it is sad to watch a once great nation reduced to this. Perhaps it is their karma for their arrogance and cruelty from colonial times.

SCREW SOCIALISM

Right On!

The UK is in the crapper.

Australia and Canada are better friends than the UK.

BS77

It is very sad to see the photo above, where a small child is being USED as a shill for hatred. I am sure the little kid carrying the sign hasn't the faintest idea what he is doing or why. This is child abuse.

SCREW SOCIALISM

If Infidels held similar posters demanding the end of Mecca, what would the British PC police do?

Like obedient dhimmits, obey the islamist calls for arrest of the protestors.

Looking4Sanity

God chose the Israelites to be His representative society on this Earth…and as Mark Twain correctly observes, "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example"

clarespark

For a novel run-down of antisemitism through the ages, see http://clarespark.com/2010/11/14/the-abcs-of-anti…. I didn't include hatred of Israel, as other comments have done so. The Brits never intended to give up the Mandate, and will never forgive supposedly weak Jews from taking five or six thousand casualties during the 1948 war of survival. Assimilated Jews in America have often bonded with antisemites in order to gain entry into high society. Islamofascists could never have infiltrated American institutions had not American elites welcomed them as antidotes to fantasies of "Jewisih" control of everything. And we don't teach anything about antisemitism in the school, for "the Jews" are those who supposedly oppress other minorities. Welcome to the Democratic Party.

SCREW SOCIALISM

The Brits retreated from the mandate in 1948, with the smug expectation that the Jews would be massacred by the Arabs as they were massacred in WW2 by nazi filth.

The Jews didn't comply with British expectations and that is an "unforgivable sin".

I believe there were some British Soldiers who helped Israel defeat the Arabs.

I have done archival research in the papers of Ralph Bunche, acting mediator for the UN, after Bernadotte was assassinated, restricted for years. It was clear to me that the Brits were intent on protecting their interests in the region. For instance, the Negev was to be a site for British air bases, and there was something about ARAMCO and the pipeline. At that time the Stalinoid Nation magazine was constantly reporting on the UK and its duplicities. All that changed when Israel joined the West instead of the Eastern bloc. As for the UK before that, there was surely disagreement among the elite policy makers.

Marty

Sad, but unsurprising. the poison of anti-semitism is a permanent feature of european and islamic society. Even worse, it has spread across the rest of the world. It's interesting that Israel provides first tier medical care to people who have been taught to hate them and that the murdering arab sociopaths in Israeli prisons live more comfortably than most of the population outside of the prisons. Israel should be the recipient of a new nobel peace prize, the first given to an entire nation for its toleration of and hospitality to those who daily proclaim that they want all Jews to be killed.

moshe

Kenya, Nigeria and Russia. Hmmm…. What do these three countries have in common? Oh, I remember! Beslan, Nord-Ost, Christmas Day bombings, Imirat Kavkaz, Boko Haram…

I guess Western European attitudes toward Israel will improve shortly. The Moslems will make sure of it!

Ghostwriter

If there is a rise in anti-semitism,it will be due to disgusting people like Nakba1948. He and those like them have a hatred of Jews and Israel which blinds them to reason and decency. I wish this monster would return wherever he came from and leave the rest of us alone.

aspacia

Ghost,

It will not return to its cesspool because it likes it in the West too much–too many handouts.

geula

well said, ghostwriter. Thank you for putting it so succintly and accurately. I don't think that actual historic facts are of any interest to demagogues like Nakba1948, or the fact that the Jewish Nakba , the expulsion of some 800.000 Arab Jews from all Arab lands, resonates today in the Palestinian craving for a Judenrein Palestine. As for the Palestinian Jews who were awarded their tiny state – renamed Israel – by the United Nations in 1947, after purchasing the land for decades and building institutions and infrastructure ( something most Palestinians, like Nakba1948, have no time to do, so busy they are spreading nazi propaganda and complaining ), these Palestinian Jews are the opposite of the Arabic hordes who attacked, slaughtered, conquered, subdued and exploited much of the Middle East , including the Land of Israel, as well as some European countries, since the first half of the 7th century. ( continued in next comment)

geula

( continued from earlier posting)
As the Romans brutally conquered the Judeans by the sword, so the new Muslim Arab barbarians battled the Byzantine Christian army and imposed themselves on the land, criminally, by the sword. Since then, they cannot forget their former militaristic, conquering , oppressing past, desiring its return by any means. They feel the whole world owes them this right of dominance. Israel stands before their eyes as their "never again" disappointment , vexing them every day. Never again will they dominate lands which did not belong to them.
( continued)

geula

( last segment)

The irony of Arabs claiming as theirs a territory the ancestrally named "Judea" is the tip of the iceberg of a monstrously fraudulent construct, a Big Lie retold which Palestinians learned from their Nazi Mufti during the British Mandate. There is a reason why no one wants the Palestinians, including Jordan, Syria and Egypt, and why they have consistently mistreated, humiliated, discriminated against them, and slaughtered them, leaving these "brothers" to suffer and languish in refugee camps to pay for another conqueringand extermination war the multiple Arab armies initiated in 1948. Their "brotherly" hatred is only comparable with the hatred the Nakba1948 mentally ill types reserve for Jews. How hard it must be to have a polluted mind fueled by a desperate need for denial, fighting for the wrong, narcissistic cause of expressing hatred for the successful other.
Geula

Bamaguje

"…the country that was most hostile of all was Japan, where only 3 percent had an affirmative view of Israel" – Bawer.

What is Japan's beef with Israel?

SCREW SOCIALISM

Israel doesn't have oil.

My solution is that the US take over the oil fields of the ME. Then drop the price of a barrel of oil from $92 back to $10.

Cheap oil will end the recession world-wide AND take the wind out of Islamofascist regimes.
.

dave

People hate Jews because they are jealous. Yes Jews have been persecuted but they have always survived and prospered. Look at Israel, at war for 60 years yet have a booming economy, crate amazing scientific, technological inventions that the world has never seen before, turned a desert and swamp into fully functioning modern country, without the help of oil revenue. They show the rest of the world that there are actually no excuses, you can acheive and prosper with nothing! The hatred is because of this as it completely negates the 'blame' argument and proves that some people are simply smarter than others, not 'oppressors'. The arabs are idiots. If they had embraced the Jewish return to the middle east and helped them, worked with them, the middle east would be THE super power. Islam has prevented this from happening and the arabs will stay stuck until they change it or leave it.

Asher

The Jews are capable, hardworking, innovative, brilliant and creative people, the contributions to medicine, technology, education, science, and of course religion far outweighs any of the contributions that their enemies have put forward, thats why many peoples in the Middle East are still living in poverty….because they are so consumed with hatred, they let all other avenues of prosperity, or ability to create civil societies for their people go unavailed. Terrorist groups are too busy causing trouble for Israel….Its sick… Israelis have worked hard, and have survived with continual persecution. For that reason I will never abandon them and support their right to fully live in peace and exist as a free nation.

KKKK

i am ashamed to read this. as a Christian and an American, i support my brothers the Israelis. i stand by them forever. LONG LIVE ISRAEL!

A. Keen Observer

Hey Nakba1948 – LONG LIVE THE WAR IN SYRIA! NOW THAT'S A NAKBA even you can get behind! I saw a picture of Syrian rebels smiling as they shot their guns and missile launchers. They looked like they were having the time of their lives doing what they do best — KILLING!

KarshiKhanabad

Other than the question of whether the Iranian-dominated Muslim Crescent will add a Syrian link, it's nothing but one clique of violent antisemites killing another. Like the outcome of kicking over a fire ant mound. The main result of the current Syrian chaos will be fewer Syrians left to be killing Jews. Or Christians. Or Ba'hais. Or any non-Muslim.

Victor Mc

I forgot to mention….the remarks about Japan, of all places tell you the whole story. Ask 99.9% of Japanese in the street and they wouldn't have the faintest idea where Israel is.

James Phillips

You throw the 'anti-Semitism' phrase around too easily. It's not jews people don't like. Its the actions of Israel that people detest. When Israel stops treating the West Bank like some land they can have as soon as they kick all of the current residents off, I'll reconsider how I feel about Israel.

Rafa

I was fairly neutral about this…until I read about the Atamar attack. Look it up, and you'll understand why it's very difficult for me to consider supporting Palestine over Israel.

Judy

Just because one doesn’t support Israel doesn’t mean that one is Anti-semitic. That’s like saying one is anti-white for not supporting Germany in WWII. One can see a state/country as unfavorable without pointing at all those who share the same religion and hissing with animosity. The problem is that people are told that disliking Israel is akin to bunking with Hitler. Stop the fear tactics and let Israel stand on its own. The actions of Israel are Israel’s to own and not to be a world wide Jewish Community. When you take this stance into an argument or debate, you shouldn’t be surprised when you are met with annoyance.